Ursula von der Leyen wins second term as European Commission president

Prashant Rao
·2 min read
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Insights from the Financial Times, Euractiv, The Guardian, and Corriere della Sera

The News

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was reelected for a second five-year term on Thursday. She was the only candidate for the post in the secret ballot for European Union lawmakers, winning 401 of 361 she needed for reelection.

Politico earlier described von der Leyen as a “shapeshifter extraordinaire” as she pledged to boost regional competitiveness, overhaul border management, and strengthen communal defense — part of efforts to win over the expanded bloc of center-right lawmakers elected to the European Parliament last month.

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Compromise was likely the key to von der Leyen’s reelection

Sources: Financial Times, Euractiv, The Guardian

Von der Leyen has pushed for compromise deals across the political spectrum in her bid for reelection, aiming to appease a growing center-right presence in the European Parliament after last month’s vote, the Financial Times noted. In a pre-voting speech, she renewed her commitment to carbon neutrality, but framed the climate focus as a matter of competitiveness in a nod to right-wing parties, Euractiv noted, and promised support to farmers who have previously protested against EU environmental rules. Still, her approach could backfire: She “has been spreading herself too thinly, promising something to everyone but not fully satisfying anyone,” an EU law professor wrote in The Guardian.

Loss of COVID vaccine case didn’t affect reelection

Sources: Euronews, Politico

The day before the vote, a court reprimanded the European Commission for concealing the details of COVID-19 vaccine contracts, dealing what Politico called a “blow” to von der Leyen’s campaign — but the ruling didn’t prevent her from winning reelection. The lack of transparency around contracts, however, generated discontent, especially as Von der Leyen had earlier trumpeted her pandemic response as testament to her professionalism and technocratic credentials. The Greens in particular likely faced “a dilemma,” Euronews added, as the party had requested to view the vaccine contracts in 2021 and brought the Commission to court when it only released heavily redacted versions.